The Post and Courier, Charleston... Racial diversity of its news staff and community

Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists

at America's daily newspapers

with the communities that they serve

Newsroom diversity report for

The Post and Courier, Charleston

Charleston, South Carolina

Owner: Evening Post Publishing (S.C.)

From a report for the Knight Foundation

by Bill Dedman and Stephen K. Doig, June 2005

Click here to read the national report or to select another newspaper

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

2005

Did not report

2004

Did not report

2003

Did not report

2002

Did not report

2001

11.8

2000

12.3

1999

8.1

1998

9.8

1997

10.5

1996

10.8

1995

12.3

1994

12.2

1993

11.4

1992

10.2

1991

9.7

1990

6.3

The latest year at peak is

2000

See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.

Newsroom Diversity Index

for The Post and Courier, Charleston

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

N/A

35.9

N/A

2004

N/A

35.9

N/A

How the index is calculated

The Newsroom Diversity Index is the non-white percentage of the newsroom staff

divided by the non-white percentage of residents in the circulation area.

(Parity = 100.)

Company index

This newspaper's owner, Evening Post Publishing (S.C.),

has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 19.

See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.

Peer group comparison

for The Post and Courier, Charleston

This paper

Peer group

The median Diversity Index is 50 for all newspapers

reporting in this circulation category of 50,001 to 100,000 daily sales.

An example of a newspaper of similar circulation, in an area of similar level of non-white residents, but one that has a relatively high Diversity Index, is The Times, Shreveport, Louisiana, with a 31.1 percent non-white staff in a community that is 41.3 percent non-white. Its index is 75.

FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of

approximately 95,588 ranks 109 out of 1,410 daily newspapers in the US.

See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.

Details on race/ethnicity

in the circulation area

and the home county

of The Post and Courier, Charleston

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

2.4

13,048

Black

30.5

166,181

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.4

7,418

Native-American

0.4

2,080

Other non-white

0.1

607

Multi-racial

1.1

6,219

Non-white

35.9

195,553

White

64.1

349,180

Total

544,733

Home county: Charleston

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

2.4

7,434

Black

34.3

106,337

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.2

3,552

Native-American

0.2

712

Other non-white

0.1

339

Multi-racial

1.0

3,053

Non-white

39.2

121,427

White

60.8

188,542

Total

309,969

The home county of this newspaper is Charleston.

About this report

This third annual report for the Knight Foundation adds context to an annual survey by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. ASNE has set a goal that

every newspaper, to help it know its community and gather the news, should employ at least one non-white journalist, and that newspapers should strive to

employ non-whites in proportion to their share of the community. ASNE's report, at www.asne.org, shows each newspaper's non-white employment, but does

not disclose how closely that employment mirrors the newspaper's circulation area.

That gap is filled by the report you are reading now. This report was not done by ASNE, but was done for the Knight Foundation by Bill Dedman and

Stephen K. Doig. It shows how close each newspaper is to ASNE's goal, by comparing the newsroom staffing with the circulation area population.

The full report is at www.powerreporting.com/knight.

Notes and definitions

1. The Newsroom Diversity Index is the non-white percentage of the newsroom staff divided by the non-white percentage of the circulation area's residents. Parity = 100.

2. Source for staffing: Survey by American Society of Newspaper Editors, April 2005. Newspapers report non-white staff as of the end of the previous year.

3. Following ASNE's definition, newsroom staff includes only supervisors, reporters, editors, copy/layout editors and photographers.

4. Also following ASNE's definition, "whites," "blacks," etc., exclude Hispanics, who are counted in a separate category.

5. Source for boundaries of this newspaper's circulation area: ZIP Code circulation data, Audit Bureau of Circulations, latest available.

6. A paper may define its circulation area differently for marketing efforts, or news coverage, or to set advertising rates.

7. If ZIP Codes or counties are used, this report applies a threshold: 10 percent household penetration is required to include an area in the circulation area.

8. Source for the demographics of residents of that circulation area: US Census 2000.

9. Source for total circulation: Editor & Publisher magazine, Monday-Friday average at year-end 2004.

10. Staff of non-English publications, such as the Miami Herald's El Nuevo Herald, are excluded from the ASNE staffing survey for the first time this year.

Demographics of ZIP Codes

where sales were reported by

The Post and Courier, Charleston

Note that some ZIP Codes listed here may not have been included in determining the newspaper's circulation area. In calculating the Diversity Index, a

ZIP Code was included only if the household penetration was at least 10 percent. Any lower-penetration ZIP Codes are also listed here for your information.

Also, if the newspaper reported more than 300 ZIP Codes, only the top 300 in weekday sales are listed here.

ZIP / City / State / Approx. distance in miles from the newspaper's home office

Weekday sales

Households

Penetration % (daily sales per 100 households)

Median household income

Non-white
% of
population

Hispanic
% of
population

Black
% of
population

Native
% of
population

Asian
% of
population

29464 / Mount Pleasant / SC / 5.8 mi.

11,842

16,098

73.6

$57,014

13.1

1.3

9.7

0.2

1.1

29407 / Saint Andrews / SC / 3.4 mi.

7,379

16,142

45.7

$37,436

35.0

1.6

30.6

0.2

1.7

29412 / James Island / SC / 4.3 mi.

6,760

13,338

50.7

$45,762

22.7

1.2

19.8

0.2

0.7

29483 / Summerville / SC / 20 mi.

6,716

17,382

38.6

$40,926

24.9

2.0

20.0

0.7

0.8

29403 / Charleston / SC / 0 mi.

5,437

9,309

58.4

$17,843

71.7

1.5

68.5

0.1

0.7

29445 / Goose Creek / SC / 13.2 mi.

5,436

15,974

34.0

$43,629

29.3

4.1

18.4

0.5

4.0

29406 / North Charleston / SC / 8.7 mi.

5,311

14,881

35.7

$32,127

38.8

4.9

29.9

0.5

1.8

29485 / Summerville / SC / 17 mi.

4,730

10,321

45.8

$50,861

18.0

1.9

13.5

0.3

1.1

29414 / Charleston / SC / 5.9 mi.

4,563

9,615

47.5

$48,251

24.3

1.6

19.6

0.2

1.7

29405 / Pinehaven / SC / 4.4 mi.

3,878

10,881

35.6

$23,200

72.1

2.5

67.4

0.3

0.8

29461 / Moncks Corner / SC / 22.8 mi.

3,702

8,809

42.0

$35,827

35.3

2.2

30.9

0.7

0.4

29455 / Seabrook Island / SC / 10.4 mi.

3,667

5,353

68.5

$40,175

40.1

5.6

32.7

0.4

0.5

29418 / North Charleston / SC / 8.4 mi.

3,136

8,796

35.7

$35,424

48.3

3.4

39.6

0.3

3.0

29401 / Charleston / SC / 1.4 mi.

2,856

4,691

60.9

$36,671

12.1

1.2

9.4

0.1

0.8

29420 / North Charleston / SC / 11.4 mi.

2,294

5,010

45.8

$46,366

47.7

4.5

38.0

0.4

2.9

29456 / Ladson / SC / 16.4 mi.

1,894

6,129

30.9

$43,305

27.7

2.9

20.0

0.8

2.1

29451 / Isle of Palms / SC / 9.6 mi.

1,444

1,951

74.0

$75,847

2.7

1.2

0.4

0.1

0.5

29466 / Mount Pleasant / SC / 4.7 mi.

1,182

4,635

25.5

$67,492

22.2

1.6

18.6

0.1

1.3

29479 / Saint Stephen / SC / 39.1 mi.

993

2,539

39.1

$27,602

65.0

1.2

62.7

0.2

0.1

29449 / Yonges Island / SC / 17.8 mi.

937

2,630

35.6

$32,958

63.1

2.2

60.1

0.2

29477 / Saint George / SC / 42.2 mi.

716

2,600

27.5

$26,125

52.7

0.9

50.7

0.4

29472 / Ridgeville / SC / 27.5 mi.

665

2,580

25.8

$33,367

53.9

1.1

49.2

2.5

0.2

29492 / Wando / SC / 10.5 mi.

550

729

75.4

$66,042

41.8

0.7

40.2

0.1

0.5

29470 / Ravenel / SC / 14.8 mi.

526

1,459

36.1

$34,070

44.5

1.6

42.2

0.2

0.0

29431 / Bonneau / SC / 33.5 mi.

497

2,097

23.7

$39,214

15.2

1.3

13.0

0.3

0.1

29482 / Sullivans Island / SC / 6.4 mi.

479

797

60.1

$72,955

2.1

0.8

0.6

0.1

0.2

29438 / Edisto Island / SC / 24.6 mi.

425

989

43.0

$34,688

40.6

1.4

38.4

0.2

0.1

29439 / Folly Beach / SC / 9 mi.

418

961

43.5

$46,492

4.4

1.5

0.7

0.5

0.2

29448 / Harleyville / SC / 42.2 mi.

366

928

39.4

$29,577

46.8

0.5

44.6

0.8

0.1

29436 / Cross / SC / 35.1 mi.

296

1,639

18.1

$26,859

64.7

1.2

62.2

0.6

0.1

29429 / Awendaw / SC / 17.5 mi.

292

958

30.5

$31,731

62.4

1.0

60.4

0.2

0.3

29437 / Dorchester / SC / 32.1 mi.

285

778

36.6

$35,393

49.9

0.2

48.1

0.4

0.1

29487 / Wadmalaw Island / SC / 16 mi.

262

960

27.3

$31,653

65.3

4.1

60.6

0.1

29458 / McClellanville / SC / 32.4 mi.

224

1,062

21.1

$28,938

70.7

0.9

68.8

0.1

29426 / Osborn / SC / 23.1 mi.

222

676

32.8

$27,400

69.7

0.8

68.2

0.1

29404 / North Charleston / SC / 8.9 mi.

190

1,208

15.7

$34,736

27.9

6.6

16.1

0.7

1.6

29450 / Huger / SC / 16.7 mi.

173

982

17.6

$34,535

75.0

0.9

73.1

0.3

29468 / Pineville / SC / 40.3 mi.

137

872

15.7

$21,500

84.7

0.7

83.6

0.0

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